HTML of Cruciform Love

Toward a Theology of the Internet

by John Frederick

Book cover: HTML of Cruciform Love

Extent: 208 pages

Publisher: James Clarke & Co

Subjects: Religious Studies

Language: English

Paperback (No longer our product)

(July 2020)

ISBN: 9780227177303

5.98 x 9.02 inches

Price: $37.00

In stock

A timely and wide-ranging collection of essays exploring the theological implications of the internet and Christian engagement with digital media.


The topic of the internet is vastly underrepresented in the current literature on the intersection of technology and theology. Studies on internet theology are certainly viewed as a topic of ‘special interest’, relevant – it might be thought – only to eccentric academics and tech geeks. The HTML of Cruciform Love contends, however, that there is no topic more pertinent to our daily walk as contemporary followers of Jesus Christ than the theological implications of the internet. These twelve essays, though standalone pieces, also work together to investigate the themes of community and character formation in the digital realm. A host of interrelated sub-themes are represented, including the application of patristic theology to contemporary internet praxis, a demonology of the internet, and virtue ethics in cyberspace, alongside studies that consider the implications of internet technology on aesthetics, personhood, and the self. Together, the chapters work toward a collaborative, constructive, cruciform theology of the internet, which is more than a supplementary component to our personal lives; rather, it is a medium of vital connection for the digital communion of the saints through the HTML of cruciform love.

John Frederick is a lecturer in New Testament at Trinity College Queensland. He is the author of Worship in the Way of the Cross (2017). Eric Lewellen is an account manager at Veracross LLC.

  • By (author) John Frederick

"This book is a beautiful example of theological exploration on a component central to the lives of so many people: the internet. The essays diverge in various ways, some more appreciative of the internet's impact on theology and religious life, others more leery. Those who take theology seriously in an age of internet need to reckon with the powerful ideas in this fine collection!" Thomas Jay Oord, author of God Can't: The Uncontrolling Love of God "Through a set of intelligent, well-crafted, and stimulating essays representing a diversity of views, the volume offers constructive tools for a critically faithful Christian engagement with the internet. Ranging from biblical exegesis to political theology and social ethics, Clement of Alexandria to Luther and Levinas, The HTML of Cruciform Love is necessary reading, and should be put in the hands of every seminarian and church leader." Ephraim Radner, Wycliffe College "This is a very timely and thought-provoking volume. Theologians formed before the internet even took its hold on contemporary culture will do well to attend to its messages. For there is no reason in principle, of course, why theology of the most demanding and life-changing sort should not be purveyed via this medium, and with great and widespread influence; the problem then is one of discernment, of ascetic choices which the internet as a whole requires of us. The contributors to this exploratory volume are well aware of this challenge and provide rich and reflective essays in response to it." Sarah Coakley, University of Cambridge and Australian Catholic University "The essays are interesting and compelling on their own." Reading Religion, 21 June 2020
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